Before I retired from doing the 9-to-5, and other soul-ripping unpleasantness to finally write full time, I ran HR departments and organized large events in the high-end restaurant and hospitality industries. While that sounds pretty official, I’ve also sculpted bins of gelato into frozen roses, and waves, and rather generic flourishes, and peddled the stuff in a faux Italian sandwich shop. As a hotel night auditor, I’ve been known to clean other people’s cigarette butts out of ash cans, shew badgers out of the lobby, and cut new room keys for sleepwalking, naked guests. And as an Uber driver, I’ve shuttled some of Salt Lake’s most interesting, and most drunk folks around our fair city. I once provided a 2 a.m. ride to a man who thanked me (and gave me a $5 tip) because I smelled like a Mexican brothel. True story. More about that in a future post.

On a more official, and inspiring note, I’ve programmed film festivals and served on the organizational ground floor of worldwide events to forward conversations for peace, social justice, and environmental responsibility. I excelled in leading transformational trainings for Landmark Worldwide, the global leader in personal and professional development and I’m proud to have contributed to the success of TV show creators, NYT bestselling authors and political leaders committed to integrity.

Photo Credit: Emily London Portraits www.EmilyLondonPotraits.com

As a self-proclaimed writers’ conference junkie of 20+ years, I finally forged my wealth of experience, (having landed 6-figure book deals with the Big-5 and having signed with top literary agents) with my writing talent, to create the highly successful Calliope Writing Coach writers’ conferences, live and online courses, private coaching and the Calliope Inner Circle, mastermind writing coaching. I train participants and clients to wake up their natural ability to hear compelling story structure, to craft effective pitches and to dismantle their barriers to writing and publishing success. I provide tools that transform every writer’s experience of self-promotion, writer’s block, and the creative process. Literary agents, managing editors for publishing houses and best-selling authors rave about my talent for simplifying the art and science behind writing and publishing success.

Calliope Writing Coach is for writers of every genre, at every skill level and at every stage of manuscript completion. Better than 95% of our participants receive manuscript submission requests out of the conferences. In short, I have the sacred privilege of serving as midwife to important books and inspiring new voices.

I like my science. I’ve always been as fascinated by the underpinnings as I am dazzled by the shiny coat. Naturally, I would reverse engineer the creative process like I have every other facet of compelling storytelling so that it can be scaled, mass produced by every writer, and so the formula disappears like Michelangelo’s perfect composition in the Sistine Chapel. Even so, I must also run out into the rain with my bucket when there is a downpour of inspiration just like every other writer.

For me, that happens at about 2 a.m. when my husband is stroking my hair in the dark, patiently trying to coax me to sleep. Tonight, he made me say it out loud, “My ideas will not disappear. They’ll be better in the morning.” He’s probably right. He’s usually right. Still, those fireflies zinging through my brain wouldn’t sleep even if I could. I finally slipped out from beneath his arm and left him snoring in bed so I could write my About Page content in the witching hour.

That said, here’s my promise for when I’ll turn out a new post. You can expect a bleary-eyed rant about the writing world or a brilliant, empowering composition at least once in a week. Along with my promise, I’m extending an invitation. Think wedding invitation. You know, like a real invitation. I think we often hear an invitation like a sales pitch. Since I’m not selling you anything here, and since it’s going to be a party, this is clearly an invitation.

Jill Fenimore, Angie’s badass mom

So, maybe not like a wedding invite since I don’t expect you to go out and buy me a blender. More like a gathering of amateur (which roughly defined means born of love rather than work) acoustic guitarists at a Beverly Hills “hoot,” (what amateur acoustic guitarists in L.A. call their open mic, play-a-long potlucks. I only know that because this is my mother’s passion. And you should know, she’s been playing my whole life and always places at the Topanga Folk Festival.) I digress. Please accept my invitation to subscribe. Okay, maybe not like a wedding invite, or an invite to a posh Bev Hills hoot, but more like “think-tank meets slumber party.” Join me. And hang on for the ride.

You can find out more about Calliope Writing Coach and upcoming courses on my website. You can also join the Calliope Writing Coach Facebook Group for all kinds of writing inspiration and to interact with other writers. If you want to follow my posts you can like my Facebook Page and follow me on Twitter. My husband Michael, who is an author brand and platform designer, and I co-host The Calliope Writing Coach Podcast where we interview best-selling authors, acquisitions editors, entrepreneurial giants, social media gone-viral wizards, and other experts in the world of writing and publishing. We aim to educate, empower, and entertain.

Superstars like Chris Brogan, author of 9 books, NYT Best Selling Author, granddaddy of blogging; John Lee Dumas, EOFire podcaster, creator of The Freedom Journal and The Mastery Journal, and Kickstarter King; and Dan Clark, author of 34 books, NYT Best Selling Author, author of Chicken Soup for the Soul books, Speaker’s Hall of Fame, have interviewed with us. We address the issues that seasoned and aspiring authors face in this raucous show.

And lastly, here’s the blog post where I explain why I blog, or more accurately, why it took me so long to get on this horse. Hint: It’s not my fear of horses. Click here to subscribe to Calliope Writes Blog. I look forward to supporting you in your writing and publishing success.

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